OPTION A — READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER QUESTIONS 1 TO 5.

YOUR FACE IS, OR WILL BE, YOUR BOARDING PASS

Tech-driven changes are coming fast and furiously to airports, including advancements in biometrics that verify identity and shorten security procedures for those passengers who opt into the program. If it's been a year or more since you traveled, particularly internationally, you may notice something different at airports in the United States: More steps — from checking a bag to clearing customs — are being automated using biometrics. (line 5)

Biometrics are unique individual traits, such as fingerprints, that can be used to automate and verify identity. They promise both more security and efficiency in moving travelers through an airport where, at steps from check-in to boarding, passengers are normally required to show government-issued photo identification.

"The technologies have gotten much more sophisticated and the accuracy rate much higher," said (line 10) Robert Tappan, and "Iris-scanning has been promoted as the most infallible," said Sherry Stein: "For biometrics to work, you have to be able to match to a known trusted source of data because you're trying to compare it to a record on file. The face is the easiest because all the documents we use that prove your identity — driver's licenses, passports, etc. — rely on face."

"The implementation of contactless platforms is currently at full speed all over the globe, and the (line 15) major impact of this is expected to be felt by 2.022, as planning and distribution usually needs 12 to 18 months to be effective," said Jeff Lennon, the vice president of strategic sales and global partnerships at Vision-Box, which operates biometric technology in more than 100 airports globally, including New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. "This is well-aligned with the expected return of mass international travel next year." (line 20)

In short, tech-driven changes are coming fast and furiously to airports, including the following advancements in biometrics: bag-check-to-boarding facial recognition, testing biometrics without passports, facial recognition at the border, international biometric boarding, from airports to sports arenas. (Fragment adapted from The New York Times.)

OPTION B — READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER QUESTIONS 1 TO 5.

GLOBAL WARMING AND FOOD

Farmers in southern Italy are cultivating avocados and mangos. Tropical creatures such as the rabbitfish are appearing in Mediterranean nets. And Bordeaux winemakers fear that their Merlot grapes may become extinct. Fifty years ago, all this would have been unthinkable. But since the early 1980s rising temperatures have forced some farmers to swap grapes for passion fruit.

Italy and France have long been proud of their cuisines. Both countries jealously guard the rules (line 5) that say only ham made in Parma can be called "Prosciutto di Parma", and only fizzy wine made in Champagne can be called champagne. Roquefort, that most celebrated of blue cheeses, was given special protection by the parliament of Toulouse in 1.550.

The fact of having been grown somewhere famous has traditionally been seen as a guarantee of quality. But climate change could upset that. Take polenta, a popular Italian dish consisting almost (line 10) entirely of ground maize. High temperatures and drier weather have already reduced maize production in southern Italy. If this pattern continues and spreads northwards, will Italian polenta-makers have to order their maize from elsewhere? And what about durum wheat, which grows abundantly in Mediterranean lands and is used to make pasta and couscous? Statistics suggest that wheat production will sharply fall there if the temperature keeps on rising. (line 15)

So, should gourmands worry about the future of spaghetti? Gabriele Cola, a researcher at Milan University, is optimistic about the short term. "I don't see crops at serious risk, because farming is more informed and technologically capable, so it can always respond to changes," he says. Increased irrigation can combat the effects of drought. Scientists may also breed more resistant varieties of crops.

But in the long run deeper change seems likely. If temperatures rise with continued intensity, (line 20) farmers in northern Europe may find they can grow southern basic food; polenta may invade Germany. And southern people may have to adapt. If tropical fruit continue to grow in Sicily, could ham and pineapple pizza one day be considered authentically Italian? (Fragment adapted from The Economist.)